Varaha Purana 197.39: Adhyaya 197, Shloka 39
The Division of the Gates of Yama’s City and the Description of the Tribunal Hall
Uttara Bhāga (traditional division; exact mapping may vary by recension) · Naraka–Yamaloka Varṇana (Catalog of beings: bodily forms)
एकबाहुर्द्विबाहुश्च त्रिबाहुर्बहुबाहुकः ॥ शङ्कुकर्णा महाकर्णा हस्तिकर्णास्तथाऽपरे
ekabāhur dvibāhuś ca tribāhur bahubāhukaḥ || śaṅkukarṇā mahākarṇā hastikarṇās tathā’pare
ekabAhurdvibAhushcha tribAhurbahubAhukaH || sha~NkukarNA mahAkarNA hastikarNAstathA.apare
कुछ लोगों की एक बाह थी, कुछ की दो, कुछ की तीन, और कुछ की बहुत बाहें। कुछ के कान शंख जैसे थे, कुछ के बहुत बड़े, और कुछ के हाथी जैसे।
Sandhi Notes
- एकबाहुर्द्विबाहुश्च = एक-बाहुः द्वि-बाहुः च
- त्रिबाहुर्बहुबाहुकः = त्रि-बाहुः बहु-बाहुकः
- हस्तिकर्णास्तथाऽपरे = हस्ति-कर्णाः तथा अपरे
Varāha
Uneasy, fascinated by the grotesque detail
What is the significance of these abnormal bodies—many arms and strange ears—and what moral or cosmological principle do such deformities illustrate?
Excess, imbalance, and misdirected agency can be portrayed as bodily excess (many arms) or warped receptivity (conch/elephant-like ears).
Train the senses and actions (indriya-nigraha, right use of power) so agency does not become chaotic or harmful.
Varaha Purana 197 (continuing morphological taxonomy)
FAQs
It demonstrates Purāṇic descriptive cataloging through bodily compounds, useful for studying Sanskrit morphology and the visual rhetoric of otherworld narratives.
No geographic location is identified.
The verse is primarily descriptive; ethically it supports the broader didactic atmosphere by emphasizing the uncanny diversity associated with moral-cosmic realms.
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